Gifts in Action

Like many puppies, Tucker loves a good chase. But the 9-month-old chocolate Labrador wasn’t always able to see a squirrel dart across his path or a ball thrown in his direction. Until recently, cataracts caused by juvenile onset diabetes limited the puppy’s vision in both eyes.

Thoroughbred mare Set Chivalry, known to all who love her as Chevy, is a large personality. “She’s so smart and has such a spicy attitude,” said owner Susan Lax of the 21-year-old retired dressage horse. “She’s just really the apple of my eye and so exhilarating to ride. I have had her since she was four, and she is a member of our family. I would do whatever is necessary to keep her healthy.”

At age seven, Izzu had already been an itchy dog for a few years. His chronic skin disease had been treated with antibiotics, antifungals, and steroids. He was frequently bathed with an anti-microbial shampoo. He was even placed on multiple diet trials to determine if he suffered from a food allergy.

It’s been 11 months in the making. Your mare has been carefully bred, appropriately vaccinated, and closely monitored. As her due date approaches, anticipation of the new arrival begins to soar, with a twinge of anxiousness closing in.

Dingus, a 17-year-old cat, was already being treated at Ryan Hospital for small cell gastrointestinal (GI) lymphoma. Diagnosed in November 2016, he had responded well to medication, but through the following summer Dingus was slowly losing weight. He came back to Ryan for an examination where an abdominal ultrasound showed his intestinal tract was normal, but revealed something else.

Dr. Mike Chovanes’s phone rang, piercing through the quiet morning. It was 6:15 am. The 1980 Penn Vet alumnus answered, his stomach twisting at the news trickling from the other end of the line. His homebred two-year-old Thoroughbred filly, Bucks Some, was down and unable to rise, trapped in her stall.

No words can describe the horror my wife and I felt when our beautiful, healthy, athletic Australian Shepherd, Blue (a once-in-a-lifetime dog) collapsed just before Labor Day 2016. He nearly died three times that afternoon and evening, and it was only through the amazing skill of multiple vets and techs at our family vet and the emergency hospital that he lived to see another day.

A proud member of the class of V’94, Dr. Kenton Rexford is a lifelong Pennsylvanian and a Penn State graduate. As a founding partner with the Pittsburgh Veterinary Specialty and Emergency Center, a practice he first joined in 1998, Kenton leads the emergency team, helping owners and their pets in times of crisis.

Dr. Kate Backel was concerned. In fact, the first-year Penn Vet resident was losing sleep. Her patient Aspen, a six-year-old male Labrador Retriever, was in the midst of fighting a severe case of dermatophytosis (ringworm), complicated by the onset of a bacterial skin infection. His journey to recovery was proving to be a winding and particularly arduous one.

Penn Vet has long been recognized for its pursuit of excellence in education and training.While Exotics medicine is highly specialized, Ryan Hospital’s Exotics service is busy and robust, providing important exposure to students during their clinical rotations. Fourth-year students with a strong interest in Exotics medicine can take additional Exotics rotations as electives.

Last February, Lisa Gaudio and her husband Jim Kazanjian had to say goodbye to their beloved half-Arabian, Kyrie Eleison. The dark bay mare had fought a long battle with laminitis, spending many weeks at Penn Vet’s New Bolton Center under the care of a dedicated team that included Dr. James Orsini, Associate Professor of Surgery, and Patrick Reilly, Chief of Farrier Services.

Church wasn’t acting like herself. The 13-year-old gray cat, named for her doppelgänger in the film Pet Sematary, was drinking more water than usual and was abnormally excitable. Her devoted owners, Lauren Catullo and Rianna Taylor, noticed the changes immediately. Thankfully, Church’s yearly veterinary exam was right around the corner.

The racetrack was not the place for this sweet Thoroughbred gelding, fighting to come in second-to-last in his best race. Flying over open hills and jumps, that’s what this athlete was clearly born to do.